The Power of Queens
by EchoGirl319
Summary: It's been five months since Lelouch died. Five months since Kallen found out she was pregnant and one month since the accident that killed her baby. But is it really dead or is it being raised by everyone's favourite witch? Oh, wait, that isn't good...
1. Prologue

**EchoGirl: Well, this is my new story, The Power of Queens.**

**Goldfish: It's her first Code Geass story.**

**EchoGirl: Yeah, so I hope it's OK. I started watching Code Geass not all that long ago and I have to say it's definitely one of the best animes I've ever seen and I just thought this up so I thought I'd write it and see what you guys think, so enjoy!**

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Goldfish: EchoGirl319 does not own Code Geass.

**The Power of Queens**

**Prologue**

C.C. simply stared with unblinking gold eyes at the child opposite her. The child merely stared back with the same unwavering violet gaze.

This was getting nowhere.

Scheming, uber-intelligent teenage princes who hated their own nation, yes, she could deal with. Babies, no.

Lelouch and Kallen just couldn't control their hormones, could they? And now she was left with the result. Lelouch was dead, Kallen was hospitalised and C.C. and just saved their child from terrified doctors wielding fatal apparatus.

_You just _had _to make everyone hate you, huh, Lelouch?_

Yes, for five months now the demon emperor had been dead and the world was finally at piece, just as Lelouch had planned, and his name was an international source of hatred and terror. But he had failed to think about a certain unborn baby that was his spitting image from a woman that had been rumoured to be having an _affair _with him. Of course people would would immediately jump to conclusions and suspect, righteously so, the child's heritage and worry that it would plot world domination and thus try to kill only moments out of the womb.

People could be such idiots these days. It was a _baby;_ it wasn't going to neccessarily end up like its father. Plus, it wasn't like Lelouch was an evil guy, all those deaths had a reason behind them. What was so bad about world peace?

_Honestly, has no one the brains to see the bigger picture? _The lime-haired witch's thoughts turned to the Black Knights and she thought of her time with them. Even they had betrayed Lelouch. _Nope, no one._

And then their was Kallen. Kallen who had been crazy enough to crash the Guren while being almost eight months pregnant. C.C. couldn't resist rolling her eyes. Only Kallen would do something like that.

As far as C.C. was aware, Kallen was currently comatose and the doctors had freaked when they'd performed caesarian to save the baby only to find, when it opened its big violet eyes, only to find a female copy of the feared demon emperor. And, naturally, C.C. had come to the rescue. She always seemed to end up saving Lamperouge / vi Britannia asses somehow.

She couldn't help but wonder, however, what Kallen would think when she woke up without the baby inside her. Whether Kallen actually wanted the child or not was a mystery to green-haired immortal, but she did remember that the redhead and been practically having a panic attack when she found out about it after Lelouch's death and that she hadn't told anyone and covered it up. After all, a child with the demon meant a life of discrimation and lonliness. Her friends would have abandoned her no doubt.

But, what if she _did _want the baby? It had been no secret that the Guren pilot had been deeply in love with Lelouch and she could've had the baby aborted at anytime... then again, she didn't seem like that sort of person...

"I'm doing her a favour," C.C. decided aloud. "Besides, Lelouch told me to protect and look after something for him," she glanced at the baby across from her, "I suppose he meant you."

The child said nothing but continued to stare at her with those all-too-familiar violet eyes.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

The staring continued.

"Honestly, _what sort of baby are you_? Weird emperor-rebel spawn."

As the child seemed to do nothing but stare at her, C.C. simply proceeded to hug her cheese-kun plushie close to her chest and stare up at the ceiling.

_Lelouch, what is this _thing _you and Kallen created and expect me to look after? It doesn't even cry._

Glancing down again, the witch noticed that the baby's attention had been diverted and was now staring intently at her cheese-kun with a look of want in its eyes.

Immediately C.C. was on the defensive and hugged the yellow pizza hut doll tighter.

"Oh, no, you don't."

That was when the tears finally began and for once the green-haired immortal was at a loss. After ten minutes of bawling she reluctantly passed the oversized doll over to the infant. Anything to get it to stop. The child's wails instantly ceased and was replaced by a sort of cooing laughter as the baby pressed its tiny pale hands into cheese-kun's soft yellow head head before falling asleep, it's arms wrapped around it.

C.C. simply glared up at the ceiling and grabbed another slice of pizza and taking a large bite.

_Lelouch, you _so _owe me for this._

**EchoGirl: So, what do you think? I hope I got C.C. in character. Anyways please review and tell me whether or not I should continue this and no flames please!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Power of Queens**

**Chapter 1**

_**Fifteen years later...**_

Liana knew it was a stupid question to ask, as she slid down into the chair opposite C.C. at the table, but, out of habit, she asked it anyway.

"So, what's for breakfast?"

The green-haired immortal didn't reply, nor even look up from the magazine she was reading, but merely pointed at the half empty pizza box on the table. Liana rolled her eyes.

"Figures."

Reaching over and grabbing a slice of the greasy substance, the fifteen-year-old glanced at what exactly her mysterious guardian was reading. The Beano, it turned out. The comic had been a favourite of Liana's when she was younger and after she had introduced C.C. to it at aged seven, the witch had been hooked and even had a habit of stealing her young charge's copies. After eight years it was apparent that the fetish still remained.

"Any good?" Liana asked, her mouth full of pizza.

"Not the best," C.C. replied in her usual, emotionless tone, "the issues seem to be getting poorer and poorer. I need a new hobby."

"Why don't you pick up a broom and start cleaning for once?" Liana suggested. She was thoroughly sick of how much of a slob C.C. could be, leaving her empty pizza boxes all over the place. As a result, the girl had developed a sort of cleaning O.C.D.

"I wouldn't want to rob you of your favourite pastime," the witch replied, turning the page of her comic. Liana merely grunted and grabbed another slice of pizza.

_I am so going to need to work this off later, _she thought subconciously as she swallowed and proceeded to take another bite.

"You'd be doing me a favour," she grumbled in response to C.C.'s answer.

"I let you have Cheese-kun, didn't I?" the immortal asked, "and talking with your mouthful is bad table manners."

"Screw table manners," Liana responded, finishing off the crust and pushing the box away from her, over to C.C. who took a slice.

"Sometimes I think you inherited the worst of both your parents," she commented idly.

"Ouch, I'm wounded."

"Sarcasm isn't befitting of," for the first time that morning she actually glanced up from her comic and raised an eyebrow at her charge, "someone of your... heritage."

Liana scowled. "Okay, so I'm half Britannian royalty and quarter Britannian noble rich shit, but you're forgetting that I'm also a quarter Japanese commoner and I will act on it."

C.C. rolled her eyes and went back to her comic.

_Rebel by blood, I suppose._

Liana opened her mouth to say something but was distracted when her gaze slipped past C.C. and landed on the six empty pizza boxes scattered on the floor behind her.

"Is it impossible to keep this place remotely tidy?" she half-shrieked.

C.C. didn't bother to look behind her but merely sighed and continued to read her comic. "Don't you have school to go to?"

"School's out in two weeks and I'm passing with straight A's. It doesn't matter if I skip."

C.C. shook her head. This girl was so like her parents, particularly her father, that it was unbelievable. "Lelouch would want you to go to school," she pointed out.

"He would want me to protect the peace in the world he created," Liana retorted, "that's why you gave me this Geass."

On cue her left eye lit up an eerie red, the all-too-familiar sigil appearing in the centre of it.

"Well, so far the peace has been doing a decent job of protecting itself. Now go to school."

She pointed at the door and Liana huffed and muttered a few curses under her breath but got up and proceeded to collect her bag and sling it over her shoulder.

"Fine," she said as she opened the door and cast a glance back at C.C. who was happily munching on pizza reading The Beano, "but I expect this place to be spotless when I come back." Though deep down she knew that when she returned there would only be more empty pizza boxes lying around.

_And she thinks _I'm _a slob!_

"Have fun," C.C. told her, not bothering to look up.

_I don't doubt it, _she thought sarcastically as she closed the door and headed outside.

* * *

_**Ashford Academy...**_

If possible, Ashford Academy had only grown larger after the events that had taken place fifteen years prior, and its influences had spread world-wide and was open to students of all nationalities now. It was also internationally famous for some of its most notable students such as Suzaku Kururugi, Kallen Kouzuki and even the demon emperor himself, though that information was strictly classified.

_Mom and dad, _Liana mused as she passed through its corridors towards the student council room. She was one of the youngest members on the council, being only a freshman - though technically she was only suppose to be in middle school but she'd been pushed up a year due to the fact that she was some sort of child genius. She'd only actually joined it in the first place because she couldn't be bothered with any of the other clubs, but so far it seemed interesting enough.

"Hey, Liana!" a female voice greeted as she entered the large room. She glanced up to discover that it was none other than student body president Catherine, or 'Katie' as she insisted on being called, Ashford, the one-and-only niece of the infamous one-and-only Milly Ashford, and yes, Liana had read all about the attractive young reporter in some of her father's old journals, and yes, Katie Ashford was every bit as eager and flamboyant as her predecessor.

"Oh, hey, Madame President," Liana greeted the older girl in return and moved to sit at the table where two of the other council members already sat. "Hey Claude, Haruka."

"Hi!" they returned the greeting.

Arthur the cat, now a very elderly cat indeed, was curled up asleep on the table. Dropping her bag carelessly on the floor, she reached out to stroke his dark fur.

"So, uh, Liana," Claude began awkwardly beside her, "you, er, doing anything later?"

"Not much," Liana replied, knowing where the dark-haired boy was going with this, "I promised my sister I'd hang out with her tonight."

That was the disguise that she and C.C. were under. They were orphans from a wealthy Britannian background whose parents had died during the demon emperor's reign and were the only survivors of a massacre in one of the former Britannian territories. C.C. was her protective older sister and looked after her, only a baby at the time. Liana could only snicker when she thought about the day that she would be the older one and C.C. would be the baby.

"Oh," the boy responded, disappointed that he had failed again.

_Trust me, _Liana thought, _if you knew who I really was, you wouldn't be looking so glum._

In fact, he'd probably call for the police and she'd be shot onsite.

"Maybe some other time," she consoled. He cheered up a bit at that.

"I like your hair today, by the way," he complimented, reaching out a fingering the sand-coloured tresses.

_It would look a lot better if I didn't have to dye it this tacky blonde, _she thought, _and if only I could get rid of these contacts..._

"GUESS WHAT!" a young brunette exclaimed as she burst through the double doors into the council room.

"What is it, Nachi?" Katie asked with a smile, flipping her blonde hair as she turned to look at the new arrival.

"You know what tomorrow is right?" the brunette, Nachi, asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down.

"Hey, isn't tomorrow..." Haruka began, the shy young girl opening her mouth for the first time that morning.

"Yep!" Nachi confirmed without letting Haruka finish, "it's the sixteenth anniversary of the demon emperor's death!"

Liana felt very sick all of sudden. She had completely forgotten about that! Her father...

"And Prime Minister Kaname Ohgi is coming to Ashford to give a speech!"

"What? The Prime Minister of Japan? Coming here?" Claude exclaimed.

Katie nodded in confirmation. "Sure is. My family arranged it. And Auntie Milly's coming as well!"

It was clear to anyone that Katie loved her aunt dearly and could talk about her all day but the conversation soon switched to the Black Knights who had fought to free Japan from the hold of Britannia and then fought to unite the world against Emperor Lelouch and how the Prime Minister himself had been second, and for a while first, in command.

"Maybe he'll tell us about how they fought the wicked demon emperor!"

"Or maybe he'll say what it was like to see Zero kill him!"

"I heard all the crowds were cheering with utter joy."

"Apparently the emperess was crying though... and screaming..."

Yep, Liana felt positively sick. Her friends had no idea how awkward she felt and the moment and she didn't want to even think about how awkward she would feel during Prime Minister Ohgi's speech, and it wasn't like she could tell them anything...

"Hey, Liana, are you okay?" Haruka asked, looking at her with dark eyes filled with concern.

Liana simply put on a convincing fake smile, the one she would be wearing no doubt tomorrow.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just something I ate."

"Oh, okay."


	3. Chapter 2

**The Power of Queens**

**Chapter 2**

"Um, yes," Liana spoke into the reciever, twiddling the phone's cord with the fingers of her other hand, "I'd like to order five large pizzas. Italien base. Two margarita, one pepperoni and two..."

She paused, racking her memory.

"Meat feast!" came C.C.'s voice from the next room.

"...meat feast," she finished with a relieved sigh. Pizza was practically a religion in the household - C.C. would eat nothing else, thus, as a child, Liana had eaten nothing else. Luckily for her at least, C.C. had been responsible enough to feed her a healthy variety of toppings and only let her eat what added up to one whole large pizza a day (usually that meant she got C.C.'s leftovers, but she didn't mind, in fact, she was somewhat grateful) and not to mention that crazy exercise program; Liana didn't even want to _think _about that.

"Uh," came the man's voice on the other end, bringing the fifteen-year-old back to earth, "anything else for ya, miss?"

_Hm, _she considered, _maybe some garlic bread... nah._

"No, that'll be all, thank you."

"Okay, that'll be a total of..."

"You're obviously new," she interrupted, "or you would've recognised me," _dude, I have to make this phone call practically every freaking day, _"just charge charge it to the Lamperouge account."

"Oh... okay."

"And make it snappy," she added, almost as an afterthought, "my sisterdoesn't like cold pizza."

With that she hung up and rejoined C.C. in the living room.

"So, did you order all the right stuff? Right size?" the green-haired immortal asked from her spot on the sofa. Liana plonked down beside her and reached for the TV remote.

"Yes, I did," she sighed, flicking her dyed blonde hair out of her eyes and turning on the TV. After a moment of watching the weather forecast (it was going to be sunny all week) she turned to her guardian. "Hey, C.C.?"

The code-bearer glanced at her her with one lime green eyebrow raised as if she had already anticipated the question.

"Can we go to Britannia this weekend? You know, just to visit..."

"Your father's grave?" C.C. finished. "I suppose so. It _is _the anniversery of his death tomorrow, after all. Just don't do anything foolish like barging into the throne room in the imperial palace in Pendragon announcing that you have a more direct claim to the throne than Nunally or something."

"Why would I do that? My aunt is a great empress: the people adore her. And she has Zero to back her up."

"Suzaku isn't nearly as competent as Lelouch," the immortal pointed out. Liana shrugged.

"He hasn't messed up yet and his motives are clear; he isn't hard to read. My father chose him as his successor and I don't question his decision."

"Neither do I," C.C. responded calmly, "I was just stating a fact."

"I know," Liana replied, "it just sounded like you were implying something."

C.C. rolled her eyes. "You really did inherit your parents' worst qualities."

"You're so incredibly kind to me," Liana muttered sarcastically. C.C. opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"I'll get it," Liana declared, getting to her feet and stretching, "it's probably just the pizza."

Turned out it was the pizza and it was being delivered by a rather strapping young Japanese man who could only have been about a year or two older than Liana herself, sixteen or seventeen at most, and he was obviously horomonal as when she appeared at the doorframe he smirked and eyed the secret princess appraisingly. Unfortunatly for him, however, Liana had inherited her mother's opinions on these things and was not one bit impressed by the boy's oggling and was tempted to slam the door in his all-too-happy face. Good thing for him that he was a pizza man - C.C. wouldn't appreciate not getting her supper. She glared at him and he quickly adverted his gaze from her chest to the piece of paper in his hand.

"Miss Lamp... Lamper... udge...? Oodge...?"

"Lamperouge," Liana corrected, her patience already wearing thin, "are those my pizzas?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, these," he passed the pizzas over to her - good, they were still hot - and stepped back before taking a very dangerous dive into very dangerous waters. "So, would you, uh, like to out for lunch sometime?"

She simply gave him the _are you a total retard or something? _look before replying, "you can't even say my name properly, why would I go on a date with you?"

"Well, I, I," he stuttered, desperately searching for some sort of pick up line, which was hard to do when the girl he was trying to flirt with was glaring at him as if he was something that had just come out of a dog's backside. "Can I at least get your number?"

Her glare just intensified.

"It's in the phonebook."

_Well, actually it's a private number and even if it was in the phonebook it wouldn't be under Lamperouge, but he doesn't need to know that._

"How about your name?" he tried again.

"That's in the phonebook too."

The next thing the youthful pizza man realised was that a door had been slammed in his face. He hadn't even gotten a tip. Damn.

"God," Liana muttered as she headed back towards the living room. C.C. instantly came up at the doorway and took the pizzas from her and began happily munching away whilst Liana curled up on the sofa, occasionally nibbling at a cheesy slice, cuddling the massive Cheese-kun plushie that she had recieved from C.C. as an infant.

"Let me guess," C.C. was the one to break the silence, "the pizza guy was new and was trying to chat you up?"

"And failing. Miserably," Liana confirmed with a sigh, "but you would know all about that wouldn't you? After all, your Geass was the ability to make people love you, wasn't it?"

C.C. didn't respond and merely continued to eat her pizza; she didn't like talking about her past. All she wanted, all she had wanted for years now, was to be able to move on and finally rest in peace, and Liana had sworn to do just that. She had sworn to complete her father's contract.

Knowing that she wouldn't be honoured with a response, Liana turned her attention to the TV; a favourite program of hers was on, something about advanced, high-tech Knightmare Frames, with tonight's episode focusing on the Britannian Kinghts of the Round. Liana herself had never had the oppurtunity to pilot a Knightmare but she guessed that her interest in them stemmed from her blood relation to some of the greatest and most famous Knightmare pilots of all time, most notably her mother, the so-called Red Lotus, and paternal grandmother, Marianne the Flash.

She watched with a laid-back interest as, in numerical order, each of the esteemed Knightmares were shown and discussed along with their pilots. Liana felt her interest peak as the program finally reached the frame that could be directly blamed for her premature birth: the Guren MK-11. It was shortly after the Zero Requiem that Kallen Kouzuki left the Black Knights - though she only completely resigned after her accident - and returned to Ashford Academy to complete her education and four years ago she joined the ranks of the Knights of the Round, as the Knight of Seven to be exact, the former post of the 'deceased' Suzaku Kururugi. Liana couldn't help but find the whole situation more than a little ironic considering the passionate hatred that her mother had held for Britannia and now she was amongst the empire's pride and joy - well, she _was_ one of the best after all and thus deserved to be ranked with the best. At least now, thanks to her father, that hatred was forgotten and the world was at peace.

It was with a terrified kind of awe that Liana watched the Guren and its pilot through the window that was the TV screen, a rush of emotions coursing through her: shock, fear, worry, concern, the desire to protect, terror...

C.C. turned to watch her, a sigh emitting from her lips. This happened every time Liana so much as glimpsed at the Guren. Liana was a smart kid, no doubt about it, a real bright spark and even what could be described as a child genius - much like Lelouch - and her memory was one of the best C.C. had ever seen, subconciously she could even remember her time inside the womb. There was just one problem with that. The accident. Being unborn and nothing but a foetus at the time meant that, apart from pain, all she had experienced at the time were emotions - both Kallen's and her own. And it seemed that the sight of the Guren seemed to trigger something within her mind that forced her to relive the trauma of the accident by making her relive the entire incident through the emotions she had experienced at the time.

Just as Liana's body began to curl into itself, forming the fetal position that she'd no doubt been in at the time of the accident, C.C. decided to put a stop to it before the girl ended up having a full-blown panic attack and promptly proceeded to flick her on the temple, successfully snapping the fifteen-year-old out of her trance.

The fake blonde turned to face her with wide eyes and a thundering heart.

"It happened again, didn't it?" she asked, "I was completely out of it, wasn't I?"

And it also happened that she had a habit of not recalling her emotional flashbacks. Maybe she really did get brain damage from that accident.

"You were strangling Cheese-kun," the witch remarked simply.

Liana rolled her eyes and got up, announcing that she was going to get a glass of water, and exited in the room, taking Cheese-kun with her and leaving C.C. alone in the living room with only the TV and four and a half large Pizza Hut pizzas for company. Shrugging, the immortal picked up another slice and brought it to her lips and locked her golden gaze on the screen which was now advertising something that looked very interesting.

A summer camp running for one year only - more importantly a _Black Knight _summer camp where twelve to seventeen-year-olds would be taught about the Black Knights and their history and workings by the Black Knight veterans themselves, learning all about the Black Rebellion and other great feats. Four weeks of living and learning with the Black Knights themselves. This was just _too _perfect.

Upon hearing that there wer eonly limited spots remaining, C.C. got up and headed in a bee-line for the telephone and dialled in the number that had been shown on the television, smirking widely as she brought the reciever up to her ear.

_Liana, _she thought, _you wanted to know what your father had to put up with as Zero and you wanted to meet your mother in person; well, here you go._


	4. Chapter 3

**The Power of Queens**

**Chapter 3**

Liana's voice rang out loud and clear the next morning.

"You signed me up for a _what?"_

C.C., completely unfazed by Liana's outrage, merely continued to nibble on the pizza that she had ordered that morning.

"A Black Knight summer camp," she repeated. Liana just stared at her.

"_Why?"_

"Experience," the code-bearer shrugged. "You should be thanking me, you know. Spending time with the Black Knights themselves – I heard you even get to visit the palace in Pendragon and meet Suzaku and Nunally. I thought this was what you wanted. Children are so ungrateful these days."

After a moments consideration Liana realised that her immortal guardian was right.

"I suppose you're right. Just took me by surprise, that's all."

C.C.'s only response was to tell her to go to school. "I thought Ohgi was going to be giving you a chat today."

Liana's eyes widened, and she slapped her forehead. Of course! How could she have forgotten? It was the anniversary of her father's death and Prime Minister Ohgi was suppose to be coming in to give them a chat today!

C.C.'s glanced at her, then at the clock. "Skedaddle," she told her, "can't be late for the Prime Minister's speech, after all."

* * *

**_Ashford Academy…_**

Liana was not looking forward to the Prime Minister's speech – in fact, she was dreading it. Who would he bring with him? Would they recognise her, her features were awfully similar to those of the former emperor. Not that she wouldn't be able to deal with whoever recognised her, but she couldn't seem to get rid of the paranoia that had come over her.

It was early though, and 'school's special guest' wouldn't be arriving for another two hours; most of the students hadn't arrived yet either so, for lack of anything better to do, the secret princess had changed into her sport's kit and decided to do a couple of laps around the school track. What else was she suppose to after all that pizza the night before – unlike C.C. who could just stuff her face and not gain an ounce, Liana actually had to work to keep her waistline. Good thing she inherited her mother's physical prowess. She didn't even want to think about what she would look like if she had her father's athletic ability. She shuddered at the image that came to mind. She would just stick with his brain, thank you very much.

Of course, the result of her running about two miles round the school grounds was not very pretty – she wasn't exactly a pleasant sight with her damp shirt clinging to her frame and her dyed blonde hair sticking to her scalp, her bangs plastered against her forehead. The smell wasn't particularly attractive either, she noted.

However, when she entered the girls' changing room in the school gym she realised, in horror, that while her thoughts had been stuck on the approaching speech the school was receiving and her paranoia on being recognised that she had not thought everything quite through.

The girls' showers were out of order.

_Crap, crap, crap, crap!_

And the jocks would already be in the boys' changing rooms getting ready for whatever sport it was they practised at half eight on a Thursday morning. Seriously, who trained at eight-thirty in the _morning? _Some dedication those guys had.

So her choices were narrowed down to two options: either she just go to school, uncomfortable and drenched in sweat with her hair sticking to her head, stinking like a hobo or she resort to desperate measures. Extremely desperate measures.

After a moment of consideration her pride and (very minimal) vanity got the better of her – besides what would people think of a princess who smelt like a tramp just off the street? The fact that no one except C.C. even knew that she was a princess didn't count – appearance mattered. Desperate measures it was.

Gathering her uniform in arms she marched determinedly out of the girls' changing rooms and into the boys', making sure to slam the door loudly on her way in so as to catch their attention. There were at least fifteen boys in the room and, luckily for her, it appeared they had only just arrived and were all fully dressed.

"Hey, dudes, there's a chic in here!"

"Leicester?" one guy asked her, referring to the alias surname she used at Ashford.

"What're here for, babe?"

Without hesitation, Liana instantly called for her Geass, the red bird appearing in her left eye through the flimsy brown contact (it was not one of the special ones C.C. told her she'd supply once her Geass permanently activated) and she stared unblinkingly at them.

Her power was that of absolute conviction – meaning that she convince any person to believe unwaveringly in or about something, even if it wasn't true. One time, just for fun, she'd made someone believe that they were a chicken and they'd run around the entire Ashford Academy campus clucking and even attempting to lay an egg. Luckily for the victim, however, this Geass could be used more than once on the same person. It also required direct eye contact and didn't require speech. It also had a rather nasty side effect that Liana didn't like to think about, but for now she had to shower in peace away from prying eyes, ears and voices.

She glanced around the room, making sure to look each surprised male in the eye.

_You're all deaf, blind and mute._

It was rather amusing to see how their mouths closed and their eyes taking on a reddish hue before shutting simultaneously, automatically believing that they all were, in fact, deaf, blind and mute. For a moment she watched how they suddenly sat down on the benches, utterly baffled by their loss of three of their senses.

_Excellent, _she thought, walking past them and into one of the shower cubicles, firmly locking the door behind her, hanging her clothes over the edge and proceeding to shower without the worry of prying males.

After an approximate half-an-hour (hey, girls needed time for this kind of stuff, right?) Liana finally turned off the hot water – man, those jocks were going to get a shock once they came back from training, ice cold water only – and towelled off before changing into her uniform, adjusting the belt of her yellow blazer before stuffing her sports clothes into a bag and hefting over her shoulder. As she reached the exit of the changing room she glanced over her shoulder, left eye gleaming with the familiar symbol of Geass.

_You're not deaf, blind or dumb. You have all your senses._

And left, letting the door slam shut behind her just as the boy's began to regain their senses, having absolutely no recollection of what had just happened to them; she smirked as she walked away, always a plus.

She walked agonisingly back to the main building, her thoughts concentrated on the summer camp that C.C. was sending her to in just over two weeks and what she would need for it. Hair dye – definitely, and a whole load of coloured contact lenses and maybe some fake tan. She wasn't going to take any risks about being recognised. For all she knew, Kallen might be there and if they were visiting the palace at Pendragon she would see Suzaku and Nunally, and if anyone could recognise her father in her then it would definitely be the empress. Her aunt.

While these thoughts occupied her head she failed to notice that she'd taken twenty minutes to reach the entrance at which she'd been standing in front of for an entire ten minutes now. The Prime Minister had already been in school for half-an-hour now. The entire student body was probably inside the main hall now.

"Shit!" she muttered, entering the academy and breaking into a jog until she reached the main hall (into which she tiptoed and took a space at the back). The Prime Minister's speech wasn't particularly interesting – just him talking about how much of a tyrant Lelouch was and how he felt when the so-called Demon Emperor was assassinated, him being an eyewitness to the entire thing. While all the students and even the teachers seemed entranced in his story, Liana was feeling increasingly uncomfortable and awkward and not one bit pleased with the Black Knight's tale, but it wasn't like she could just stick up her hand and say, "you know, that's my father you're talking about". So instead she allowed her attention to wonder elsewhere. Immediately she spotted the Prime Minister's wife, Viletta Ohgi, formerly Nu, her tanned skin and pale blue hair unmistakable, standing near the stage, watching her husband. Apparently they had a child, well, three children, but apparently one of them was around her age. Then she saw Milly Ashford, unmistakable due to her likeness to the current student body president, her niece, who was doing some sort of report on Ohgi's visit or more likely just visiting her niece. She looked… sad. But then again, Liana reasoned, she had gone to school with Lelouch and had known an entirely different side of him, not Zero or the Demon Emperor that the world saw.

Then, as Liana watched her intently with piercing eyes (their true violet colour only just visible behind the brown contacts), the infamous Milly Ashford's blonde head, feeling the pair of eyes upon her, turned to stare directly at Liana, her blue eyes widened in shock and could that be…

_No, no, no, _the secret princess begged internally, that could not be recognition. Sure she had known her father for a long time and, if Liana recalled corrected, had bribed the other students to find her Lelouch's hat on Cupid Day so there were probably some feelings there as well, right? So she had obviously memorised her appearance and features… shit! Why did so many women have to hold romantic feelings towards her father? Yet surely her disguise couldn't be so easily seen through…

Cautiously she glanced at the hair that was almost hanging in her eyes **(AN: Basically, her hair's the same as Lelouch's at the front) **only to find that the sandy blonde was interwoven with strands of… black! Stupid cheap, do-it-self hair dye! It must have started coming out in that shower. That probably meant the tan was gone too. How could she have been so stupid? And now Milly (probably) recognised Lelouch in her. Anyone who knew what the Demon Emperor looked like would! Luckily, though, no one was paying attention.

_Thank you, Prime Minister Ohgi and your completely biased, one-sided speeches._

She quickly adverted her gaze from the blonde reporter and back to the Prime Minister. As soon as the speech was over and all the gobbledy-gook was over and done with (Liana hadn't really being paying attention, she was too busy hyperventilating) she was the first one out of the hall – leaving slightly early so as no one would notice. Once she was out she decided that she was completely prepared to skip the rest of the day, none of the students had really seen her yet anyway, for all they knew she had the flu. That was better than being caught and interrogated by Milly. She didn't particularly want to Geass one of her parents' best friends. Hopefully the former school president would just think that her eyes had deceived her and that she was just imaging things.

_I mean, a female version of Lelouch with brown eyes and badly dyed hair and the remains of fake tan in the main hall of Ashford Academy? Come on. _

_Ah, well, _she shrugged, pulling out a hoodie from her sports bag and pulling it on, bringing up the hood so as her hair was almost invisible behind it, _gotta go buy some better hair dye._


	5. Chapter 4

**The Power of Queens**

**Chapter 4**

Liana scowled as she walked through the corridors of Ashford Academy, heading towards the student council meeting room. Yesterday had not gone well; she'd been late for the Prime Minister's speech and left half way through, her disguise had fallen through due to her use of cheap hair dye _and _there was a very probable chance that she'd been recognised. By a news reporter of all people. Liana hoped that she was just being paranoid but deep down she was convinced that Milly Ashford had seen her and somehow made the connection between her and Lelouch. On top of all that she'd had to use Geass. Bloody plumming, damn useless.

Liana liked her Geass, make no mistake, it gave her complete control of another person's mind but it had its strings attached. Her father's Geass had also been powerful but limited, it required direct eye-contact and could only be used once per person, her grandfather's power over memory could also be cancelled and Mao's mind-reading abilities could only span a certain distance. Liana's Geass had no such boundaries. It was, for lack of a better word, unlimited. Instead, it used her life force. Every time she used her Geass her life expectancy dropped by a certain amount of time. It was doubtful that – for now, at least – she wouldn't live long past fifty-five. It was for this reason that she partially dreaded the day her Geass permanently activated.

As she drew closer to her destination, she heard muffled voices coming from behind the closed doors of one of the student council rooms. She recognised Katie Ashford's voice immediately, but it took her a while before she recognised the other voice to be that of Milly Ashford. Her eyes widened in panic and slowly she crept forwards and pressed her ear against the door.

She stood there motionless for a few moments while aunt and niece discussed what could only be described as pointless issues like what should be done for Arthur's birthday party (he was an old man now, he needed something special to be done for him) or the date of and what should be done for the next ball. Hopefully not cross-dressing or swim-suit modelling. Then the conversation reached the subject that Liana had both fearing and anticipating – her.

"So," came the elder Ashford's voice, "did you see anyone arrive late to the Prime Minister's speech and then leave, like, ten minutes in."

"Yeah!" Katie exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure Liana did!"

"Liana?" Milly questioned.

"Liana Leicester," Katie told her and Liana's jaw clenched, her secret would be revealed all because of the president's big mouth! "She a member of the student council. Was it her you saw? Blonde hair, brown eyes, skinny and looking like she's spent her life underneath a tree rather than in the sun? Not to mention a mysterious past yet not one bit of scandal. Sound about right?"

"Tell me," Milly implored, the volume of her voice dropping a few levels so that Liana had to strain her ears to make out what they were saying, "is blonde this Liana's real hair colour?"

_Shit, she's onto me!_

"No," came Katie's reply and Liana cursed her inwardly, "I'm positive it's black. She wears contacts too. Her eyes are actually this really unusual and pretty shade of purple."

_How is it she always seems to know everything? _Liana had to admit, despite coming across as a bit of a ditz, Katie really was very observant and intelligent.

"Really?" Milly's sounded surprised and more than a little suspicious, Liana reached for the door handle, fully prepared to enter the room and halt the conversation but then Milly spoke again. "And what about her _mysterious past, _as you call it?"

"She's an orphan; her parents were rich Britannians. Her father was killed during the Demon Emperor – sorry, I mean the 99th emperor's – reign in one of his massacres and her mom kicked it shortly after she was born. She lives with her older sister."

"And she's fifteen right?"

"Uh-huh."

"When's her birthday?"

"3rd December 2018."

"But that's only five months after Lelouch–" Milly broke off suddenly and Liana knew that she knew. There was no option now. She'd have to use her Geass on both Milly and Katie. "Are you sure Leicester is her real name?"

"I think so," Katie sounded confused but then her voice grew excited, "why? Do you think she's involved in some scandalous identity fraud? I'd finally have some dirt on her – that girl needs some scandal in her life, I mean, sure she skips classes sometimes and Dwin goes with her I'm pretty sure their off gambling or doing something else that's illegal, but this is _big! _But to answer your question; I'm pretty sure I saw her sign something as Lamperouge once."

There was silence and something (which sounded uncannily like a cup filled with liquid) hit the floor, shattering noisily as it did.

"Lamperouge?" Milly whispered, shocked. Liana took this as her cue to enter.

"Katie?" she asked as she opened the door, her face impassive like she had not just been eavesdropping. "Claude was looking for you. He's in the ballroom." She glanced down at the floor, it had been a cup that Milly had dropped and it had been filled with steaming hot coffee that was now spilled all across the floor. "What happened here?"

"Just a spillage," Katie told her. "Liana, this is my aunt. Liana, Milly. Milly, Liana. The ballroom, you say?" Liana nodded but Katie was already half-way across the room. She paused at the door and turned back to Liana. "You're a C cup, right? Yeah, you are. Just checking," then she turned and left the room.

"What the hell?" Liana asked the empty space where the student body president had just been. That girl never failed to surprise her. Why would she be interested in that kind of stuff anyway? _Bloody pervert._ She turned back to Milly, knowing exactly what was about to come.

"Miss Ashford," she gave a small bow in greeting.

"So you're Liana?" Milly asked, tapping her chin lightly with her index finger. "Leicester was it?"

Liana shrugged. "Call me what you want."

"Lamperouge then?" Milly pressed. "_vi Britannia _even?"

"So you know then," Liana said, crossing the room and sitting down on one of the chairs, looping one arm over the back and crossing her legs.

"It's true then?" Milly half choked, "are you really..."

"Lelouch's daughter, is that what you mean? Then yes, I am."

Milly practically fell into her chair, watching Liana with shocked cerulean blue eyes. "But how? When? Where?"

_Is she serious? Dad's journals were right – she is nosy!_

She sighed. "When – sometime shortly before Lelouch became emperor. Where – probably some top-secret Black Knight location and as for _how... _well, I really don't want to have to explain."

Suddenly, Milly gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth. "You're Kallen's baby! The one that died! But how..." she broke off as another thought entered her dirty mind, "Kallen and Lelouch, huh?" she mused, "they always did look pretty good together. Not a bad result though: you take after Lelouch a lot more than Kallen though. Are you all mass-murdering emo too? You know, I'm probably your godmother..."

Liana resisted the urge to bang her head on the table. She wasn't even freaking out! What was it with Ashford women and being so random?

"Milly," she began, "I can't have anyone else find out about me."

At once Milly looked up, catching on immediately. "You're going to make me forget, aren't you? Lelouch had the power to make anyone do what he wanted; you have that power too, don't you? Or something like it. You're going to make me forget about you."

Slowly, she lifted her hand to her right eye, removing the brown contact and letting her Geass manifest. "I'm sorry, Milly."

Milly, braced herself in her chair. She had been Geassed before, she knew, but she couldn't remember and she was positive that her situation had never been like this. She watched cautiously as Liana lowered her left hand from her eye which burned luminous red with the power it held, she could see the bird in its centre begin to flap its wings. The words echoed in her mind.

_Forget me._

She battled fruitlessly for a moment, staring into the eyes of Britannia's secret First Princess, the daughter of the world's enemy before her mind subjected itself.

The door opened and Katie entered. Liana immediately stood up.

"Liana what were you talking about? Claude wasn't looking for me." She broke off upon seeing Liana, "what's with your eyes? One's brown and one's violet..."

Liana reactivated her Geass and stared Katie in the eye, even though it wasn't necessary.

_Forget the conversation you had with your aunt._

"Sorry," Liana apologised, swiftly replacing her contact, "must've been a mistake. He was probably looking for Nachi or something. I need to go make plans for... Arthur's birthday, see you around!"

She left the room, smirking as she heard Milly's "who was that?" and Katie's "what were we just talking about?"

But another thought nagged at the back of her mind. If Milly had recognised her so easily how long would it take for the Black Knights to recognise her and make the connection?


	6. Chapter 5

**The Power of Queens**

**Chapter 5**

After the incident with Milly the day had gone fairly normally. Well, as normal as things could get at Ashford Academy – Katie and Milly had combined their craziness and thrown a special 'very sweet' goodbye party for the said former president which involved everyone dressing up as candy and eating lots of it. Katie had somehow managed to force Liana into a pink and black liquorice all sort costume, much to the latter's chagrin. Afterwards, Liana doubted she would ever eat dessert ever again; she felt sick just thinking about it.

Not that thinking about pizza didn't have the same effect.

"Someone recognised me today," she announced quietly, staring gloomily at the last pepperoni slice lying in the pizza box. C.C. glanced at her.

"Who?" she asked, her mouth still full of pizza.

"Milly Ashford," Liana told her, "but it's okay. I made her forget."

"Huh." She looked considerate for a moment. "She tried to make the world's biggest pizza. I like her." Then, in an undertone, "but Suzaku messed it up."

Liana rolled her eyes, "is that all you ever think about? Pizza?"

C.C. shrugged, "I like pizza."

_Yeah, I kind of got that when I was about three._

"But," Liana began, "I was thinking, if Milly could recognise me that easily, what will happen when I meet the Black Knights? I mean, if they recognise me, what will _their _reaction be? Milly knew my father for years but the Black Knights… they just think he's tyrant."

C.C. snorted and her mouth twisted into a kind of half smirk. "Many words can be used to describe the Black Knights but observant isn't one of them. Even if you were to walk around without any disguise at all they wouldn't have the brains to make the connection."

"So basically my dad's rebellion was made up of a bunch of idiots?"

"Basically."

* * *

It was a Friday afternoon and Liana and her friend – or more precisely, gambling buddy – Dwin Darlton, roaming about the Tokyo Settlement, skipping class, after another one of Liana's big wins.

"You're gonna make me rich, Li!" Dwin laughed as they walked side by side down the street, "how are you so good anyway?"

Liana shrugged and threw him a smirk, "natural talent, I suppose. Those rich cats make it to easy; they're always so overconfident. Maybe if one of them just put their arrogance and ego away for a few seconds they might actually stand a chance."

"And this changes the game, how?" Dwin asked, confused.

"It means they would pay complete attention and not gloat about a victory they haven't even achieved yet."

"Ah."

"You don't have a clue what I'm talking about."

"None at all."

They walked in silence for a few seconds before Dwin turned his head to Liana and began to speak again.

"So, do you, uh, think I should get Katie something for Valentine's Day?"

Liana rolled her eyes, "Dwin, Valentine's Day isn't for another six months."

"I know _that, _but should I get her something?"

"Only if you're actually going to go through with it this time."

That was the thing with Dwin, he was her – probably best – friend at Ashford and always dragged her around for these things. He'd been crushing on Katie for what seemed to be since he'd first met her but she never seemed to notice and he never had the guts to tell her. It actually got quite annoying after a while, seeing as Dwin wasn't exactly silent with his pining. Not that she didn't like Kate, the girl was one of her oldest and closest friends, but if she heard one more comment about how amazing the student body president was…

"Hey!" Dwin exclaimed suddenly, jerking Liana out of her thoughts, "what's happening over there?"

She craned her neck to see where he was pointing, just down an unkempt looking alley, and her eyes widened. Two large, muscular-looking men were cornering an older, much smaller, frail-looking women. The corners of Liana's mouth tugged down in disgust.

"Would you look at that," she spat.

"Yeah, I see it," she could feel Dwin tremble beside her, he tugged on her arm, "now come on, let's go."

Liana shrugged him off. "Someone needs to teach those guys a lesson."

"Liana, no!" Dwin hissed after her as she approached them, "don't get involved!"

She crept quietly until she was directly behind the first man and tapped him on the shoulder. "Didn't your mother ever teach you some manners?"

He swung around to face her and she caught a glimpse of silver in his right hand. He was holding a knife. "And not to play with things from the kitchen?"

He brandished the knife at her. "Wha' d'you want, missy?" he demanded, pointing the blade at her throat. His companion also turned to her.

Liana raised her eyebrow at the knife, the blade was dull and no longer than her thumb. "It that supposed to intimidate me?"

"Hey!" the second man exclaimed, "you're a student! What're you doin' down here all by yourself, precious?" he leered at her and she recoiled slightly, disgusted, before regaining her composure and flashing them a sultry smile.

"I'm here to teach you boys a lesson."

"Oh, yeah?" the first man asked, looking her up and down his eyes lingering on the visible expanse of her slender, creamy thighs. The academy skirt didn't do much to cover them, after all. "And how'd you intend to do tha', darlin'?"

She moved before the men could even react, grasping the first man's wrist and twisting, knocking the knife out of his hand and sweeping his legs from under him, stepping on his head as she headed before going for his companion. She made a move to grab his arm but not before he used his own knife to make a deep vertical slash along the length of her arm. Hissing in pain, she grabbed his and twisted it behind his back, forcing him his knees then wrapping her free arm around his neck, effectively choking him. The woman who had been the original victim watched the whole scene with wide, frightened eyes, her body frozen against the cold wall.

It was only when the man lost consciousness that Liana finally let go, letting the man's limp form fall beside that of his companion, his face a rather nasty shade of purple. She glanced up at the woman, who was watching her with wide dark grey eyes. She could finally make out that the woman was Japanese.

"It's okay," she reassured the shocked woman, "they're just unconscious. One has a broken arm and the other a broken wrist, but overall they're fine. Don't worry."

The woman finally seemed to unfreeze and she blinked, raising a hand to her heart and watching Liana carefully.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"No problem," Liana grinned, nudging one of the unconscious men with her foot. It was then that the woman noticed something about her saviour; notably the fact that the ripped yellow sleeve of Liana's blazer was rapidly turning a vivid red and dripping off and pooling on the ground beneath her.

"You're hurt!" she exclaimed.

Liana glanced at her arm, only just remembering the injury that had been inflicted upon her. She ran a finger across the gaping wound, it came away bloodied.

"Come with me," the woman insisted, "my house is only just across the road, I can get you fixed up there. Please, it's the least I can do."

After a moment Liana nodded and the two made their way out of the alley, the mysterious Japanese woman leading. Dwin stood frozen by the walkway. As soon as he noticed Liana he ran over to her, she glared at him.

"Some friend you are," she hissed but Dwin wasn't listening.

"How did you do that?" he asked, awe-struck, as he fell into step beside her, following the Japanese woman.

"Do what, Dwin?" Liana sighed, still annoyed with him for leaving her to take on those men alone.

"Fight those guys. You had them down in seconds!"

"I do martial arts, Dwin. I thought you knew that."

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" she snapped, flashing him her bloodied arm.

"Oh…" he murmured seeing her injury, "I'm really sorry for leaving you, Li."

Liana snorted but accepted his apology. It was at that moment that the Japanese woman stopped and opened a door. "Come in," she gestured.

Dwin halted, looking confused, but Liana used her good arm to push him inside before entering herself. The Japanese woman closed the door behind them.

"Take a seat," she told Liana as she led them into the living room, "I'm just going to get the first aid kit."

She returned ten minutes later, carrying with her everything she needed to take care of Liana's wound. Liana was sitting on one of the armchairs, she had already removed her blazer, gently rocking her bloodied arm whilst Dwin helped himself to the plate of cookies lying on the table. The woman sat down on the stool beside Liana's chair and gently began to examine Liana's arm, occasionally brushing a brushing a strand of grey-streaked brown hair behind her ear.

"So, might I be able to know the name of my saviour?" the woman teased kindly as she began to bandage up Liana's arm.

"Liana," the reply was immediate, "Liana Leicester."

"And you go to Ashford Academy?"

"Yeah," Liana confirmed, "Dwin goes there too," she inclined her head in her friend's direction.

"Hm," the woman commented, "my daughter used to attend Ashford. She graduated quite a few years ago now, though. Fifteen, I believe. Or was sixteen?" she sighed.

That was strange, Liana thought. This woman was Japanese, fifteen/sixteen years ago was around the time of the Black Rebellion, when Britannia was in charge and the Japanese had been no more than Elevens. How was a Japanese woman's daughter able to attend Ashford Academy? As far as she was aware, the only Japanese that had ever attended Ashford before Lelouch's death was Suzaku Kururugi. Or maybe her daughter wasn't full Japanese…

"Of course, I don't see her very often now," the woman continued obliviously, "she spends most of her time in Pendragon. But she stays here with me whenever she can."

"That's… very nice," Liana replied, a feeling gnawing in the back of her mind. "What does she work as?"

"She's a Knight of the Round," the woman replied and Liana could slowly feel the blood drain from her face, "the Knight of Seven. She's also part of the Black Knights."

With those words the bandage was finally completed and almost immediately, Liana stood up and staggered slightly.

"Whoa," the woman steadied her, "take it easy. You're going to need some rest, you lost quite a bit of blood." Liana glanced at the bloodied armchair and shot the woman – who was very, very likely her grandmother – an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that."

"It's alright. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Liana assured her, grabbing her blazer and poking Dwin, "come on, we have to get going. They'll be missing us at Ashford."

"But, Li, we always skive and the cookies…"

"Do you men always think with your stomach! Come _on, _Dwin," she pleaded, keen to get away as soon as possible, "Katie's probably already offered a kiss to whoever can find us."

_That_ got Dwin moving.

"If I find myself, then I can get a kiss!" he leapt up and grabbed Liana's good hand, practically dragging her out of the room, "come on Li! Let's get moving."

The woman laughed, "I see you're keen to get going. Thanks for helping me again, Liana. The name's Kouzuki, by the way."

Liana smiled at her, a genuine smile. This was her only living grandmother after all. _"Sayonara, Kouzuki-sama."_

Mrs. Kouzuki smiled widely back, reminded of the equality that now existed between the Britannians and the Japanese, the equality between the Britannians and everyone who they had once seen themselves as superior to (AKA, everyone). _"Sayonara, Liana-chan."_

_I seem to be running into a lot of people that are/were involved with my parents these days, _Liana thought as she left the house, Dwin in tow.


	7. Chapter 6

**The Power of Queens**

**Chapter 6**

The holidays had finally arrived. School was out for the next few weeks and Liana was sitting on the train home contemplating. She was going to the Black Knight camp. The thought unsettled her slightly; it meant that she was finally leaving the security of her childhood and stepping into the bigger world, the world that was her duty to protect.

She couldn't help but be a little bit nervous and maybe a little angry as well. She was about to meet the very same rebels who had fought to free Japan from Britannian rule but also the very same arrogant fools who had betrayed her father after everything he'd done for them. They still thought he was a tyrant and she had little doubt that they would turn on her should her true identity be discovered. Not that that would happen. The worst thing that could happen would be that her Geass would permanently activate and she'd accidently brain wash someone. She sighed and tipped her head back against the window. She had been using her Geass more and more often as of late and she had a feeling that she would lose her control of it soon. She'd have to contact C.C. when that happened.

Twisting her head around slightly she examined her reflection in the window. Everything was in place; her hair was longer than usual (thanks to extensions) and dyed its usual tacky blond and her dark violet eyes were hidden by muddy brown contacts though, if you looked close enough, the mesmerising purple could still be seen beneath the dull brown. Then she turned her attention to another easily recognised feature; her arm. It had been several weeks since her encounter with her maternal grandmother and her run in with the thugs and she hadn't seen either since but just at a glance she could tell that the scarring from the knife wound inflicted upon her would be permanent. A long faint red line ran up the length of her inner forearm, from the top of her wrist to a few inches above her elbow. It was not particularly painful, nor had it weakened her arm in anyway, but the problem was that it could not be covered up. She glared at it disdainfully for a few moments before glancing at her wristwatch.

Quarter past one. She had been on the train for over an hour now and they were just passing through rural countryside. She groaned; it was another half hour until she finally reached her destination. After about ten minutes of looking out the window, watching them pass farm after farm, she turned her attention to the carriage. It was empty. It had been nearly full when she'd gotten on in Tokyo but most people seem to have gotten off within the city or at the former ghettos. She took a moment to relax in the peace and quiet but it was useless as, at that precise moment, the door leading to the carriage in front swung open and a girl around Liana's age stepped inside.

She was a tall girl, taller than Liana, with long, wavy dark brown, almost black, hair and azure blue eyes and the kind of porcelain skin and pretty, aristocratic features that many nobles seemed to share. Liana was instantly on the defensive. She knew that the nobles in Britannia were rising up against the royal family, against her aunt, the empress Nunnally. She knew that they were displeased with the equality that Lelouch had forced upon them, they wanted their power and riches back. Their guerrilla strikes against the empire were reported on the news almost weekly. It was almost like with the terrorist attacks in Japan before her father had become involved; clumsy and disorganised but still, to a level, effective and she was positive that the nobles were not doing this alone. There had to be some greater power behind it; there always was.

"Hey," the girl greeted, pushing a thick lock of dark chestnut hair behind her ear. She sat down opposite Liana.

"Hi," Liana replied curtly. She had no business with the girl, what did she want?

The girl stuck out a hand. "I'm Marley," she introduced herself, "Marley Cobert."

After a few moments Liana shook the girl's hand. "Liana Leicester."

The girl smiled widely at her. "The other carriage was totally empty," she explained, "and you looked kind of lonely all here by yourself so I thought I'd join you."

"You were watching me?" Liana questioned sharply. Marley's eyes widened and she shook her head viciously.

"No, no, no! I just saw you and I thought maybe you'd like the company. I was kind of lonely myself, actually..."

Liana said nothing and instead contemplated the information the girl had given her. Marley Cobert, Marley Cobert. Cobert. The name sounded familiar but she didn't know where she'd seen it before. Or perhaps it wasn't the name Cobert at all that she recognised, just something that sounded like it. Cobert was far too plain, after all, to be the name of a Britannia noble. And this girl, who was now watching Liana nervously and biting her nails, didn't appear to be noble in anyway apart from appearance. And that could just be a coincidence. There had been normal people, after all, with noble-looking features; her paternal grandmother - the former empress - was an example of that.

Taking her chances, Liana smiled at her. Almost instantly, Marley smiled back.

"Where are you headed on this empty train?" Liana asked her, genuinely curious.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm going to that Black Knight camp thing."

"I am too."

"Really?"

Liana nodded, noting Marley's obvious happiness that she had met someone else, who seemed relatively friendly, that was also going.

"That's good," Marley laughed, "I was worried that I wouldn't know anyone and everyone else would know each other and I'd be the odd one out."

Liana shrugged. "We can be odd ones out together then. I don't know anyone either." She paused and took a closer look at Marley. Before she had only noticed her most obvious features but now that she looked closer she noticed that the clothes the girl wore were old and frayed, and the bag that she carried looked like it might rip at any moment. She looked, well, poor really.

_Was this what the Japanese looked like when Britannia governed them?_

"You're Britannian," Liana commented. Marley watched her carefully for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I am."

"Where're you from?"

Marley was silent again for a few moments, and Liana could tell that it was a sensitive subject for her but she didn't back down.

"I live with my sister," she admitted finally, "we used to live in Britannia itself but not anymore."

"How come?"

"Our parents and older brothers – they were soldiers – were killed when I was just a baby," her voice cracked slightly and Liana began to regret pushing her for answers, "during the demon emperor's reign. We've been moving about ever since. Been in Japan for a while though." She smiled sadly.

So her family had been killed in the battles during her father's reign, fighting for the opposite side obviously. Not that she could blame them; he had played the role of the tyrant very, very well. But they were just soldiers.

"Do you hate him?" she asked, "Lelouch vi Britannia, I mean."

Marley nodded. "I do. He killed so many people. He deserved what he got. And you? What's your story, Liana?"

Liana hid the anger that was within her well, only the flash in her eye showed her true feelings. Luckily, Marley wasn't looking her in the eye but instead staring at the ground, silently mourning her deceased family.

"My father was killed during that time as well, near the end of the... demon emperor's reign," _well, that wasn't a lie,_ "and my mother, well, I don't know what happened to her," _not quite true_, "but I haven't seen her since I was very small," _since birth, actually_, "I've moved around a bit, staying with my sister," _yeah right, C.C.'s at least five hundred years older than me, _"but I've lived in Japan for a long time now, though I sometimes visit the capital."

"And you're Britannian?" she asked.

"Yes," Liana confirmed. The only feature she possessed that looked somewhat Japanese were the shape of her eyes; large, almond-shaped orbs. Marley nodded.

They chatted a little bit longer about random things, both girls were glad not to be talking about families or politics and they bonded quickly, soon considering each other friends yet Liana couldn't help but feel that behind Marley's shy and innocent demeanour, they was something distinctly off.

Before they knew it the train was coming to a halt as it entered the station. They had arrived.

_Black Knights, _Liana thought with a smirk, _here I come._


End file.
